Back to the US

I am back in the US right now. It was strange to leave Tanzania after a year and a half. In many ways Tanzania came to feel like home. I heading home here in the US, but also leaving a place that has come to feel like my home as well.

People ask me often when I will come back to Tanzania and I don’t have a clear answer. I love Tanzania and would love the chance to come back and potentially live in Tanzania even longer, but I don’t know what God has in store for my future or where He will lead me.

I have also been asked what I will miss the most about Tanzania and this question is easy to answer: people. I will miss the people I have come to love dearly. I will miss the kids of HOCET city center, the students at HOCET Secondary School, the family I lived with for the past three months, the kids in the village of Funza, my friends in the village of Sangatini, friends from my church DPC, and many others. I feel so blessed to have the chance to meet and know so many wonderful people, who welcomed me so warmly into their country, their communities, their homes and their lives. I will definitely miss Tanzanian hospitality and I hope being a recipient of Tanzanian hospitality for this period of time will help me be a more hospitable person as I believe hospitality is a Kingdom of God value.

I am in Washington DC currently visiting family and friends here. I will be heading to Florida and Gainesville in particular next week. I am very excited to see people who I have missed dearly and people who have prayed for me ad supported me while I was abroad.

It may be surprising news to some  that I am back in the US. I am sincerely sorry for my lack of communication to many. I had good intentions of being in touch more, but I did not follow through and I am sorry. I very much look forward to catching up with people in person, but I also intend to share more pictures and stories from mytime in Tanzania on this site.

Thank you again to all who have loved me, prayed for me, encouraged me and supported me. I am very grateful.